


Three Deaths of Olivia Dunham That September Saw, and One He Didn't

by Mack_the_Spoon



Category: Fringe
Genre: Alternate Universe, Episode Related, Episode: s04e22 Brave New World Pt. 2, F/M, What-If
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-05-18
Updated: 2012-05-18
Packaged: 2017-11-05 14:13:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,185
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/407343
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mack_the_Spoon/pseuds/Mack_the_Spoon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“I have looked at all possible futures... and in every one, the result is the same. You have to die.” - September, S4E8, 'Back To Where You've Never Been'<br/>As you can guess by the title, this is not a particularly cheery fic, but remember it's all AU! This is just playing around with what-ifs.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Three Deaths of Olivia Dunham That September Saw, and One He Didn't

**Author's Note:**

> I don't own Fringe, its characters, or its plots.  
> Also, thanks to Namarie for looking this over.

~~~~~~

One

The Bishops wait over Olivia's body, breathless, mourning. “Walter,” Peter chokes after endless minutes or years. “Walter, why isn't it working?”

His father swallows. “Perhaps – the intense energy utilization she's been going through, the levels of Cortexiphan in her body simply aren't sufficient-”

This time, when Peter's legs give out and his anguished cry echoes in the room, Walter can't muster any hope that his son will forgive him.

~~~~~~

Two

Peter has tried to follow Walter's wild explanation involving the heretofore unknown regenerative properties of Cortexiphan, but he just can't go with the flow when his father takes a letter opener to the back of Olivia's head. “Whoa. Whoa. Stop. What are you doing?” he chokes, swallowing with difficulty. Walter explains about the need for an exit wound, and Peter relents, though watching the process makes him feel even more like vomiting than he has since the gun first went off.

Then Walter grabs the telescoping wand, and this time Peter can guess what it's for. His stomach clenches again, but he reminds himself that this could save her.

The wand breaks as Walter tries to stiffen it. The pieces are each too short to reach the bullet. After a frantic search, they find a piece of wire to use to fix the wand – but by that time, precious minutes have passed. Their breathless vigil once the bullet is finally removed has no happy ending. The worlds are safe, but both Bishops' lives are destroyed.

~~~~~~

Three

The headwind on the way out to sea blows harder than expected, and so it takes a little longer for Peter and Olivia to get to Bell's Ark than they had planned. Meanwhile, Walter Bishop has had enough of listening to his old friend's megalomaniacal speeches. He has loaded the old gun and finally turns to aim it at Bell's head. Bell is supremely unconcerned, and begins to explain why shooting him won't make a difference, but a thoroughly distraught and fed up Walter pulls the trigger anyway before he can finish.

The gun doesn't go off. Perhaps it was simply for display purposes and wasn't kept well cleaned, perhaps Bell disabled it – whatever the reason, Walter's heart sinks under the weight of this additional failure on his part. He drops the useless gun on the ground – and then Peter and Olivia burst in. “Walter, are you all right?”

Bell smiles in welcome. “Peter, Olivia – this is unexpected. You know I was not planning on having any humans. What a troublesome species we can be, after all. But I see I was wrong. Look at the two of you.” He offers them the chance to join the new order, then draws breath to say more but Peter interrupts.

“This has gone on far enough.” He aims his own weapon at Bell. “Turn it off.”

Bell remains unruffled. “Shoot me if you like, young Peter. I cannot turn it off. There's no escaping the inevitable. The chain reaction has begun. Olivia is a living uncertainty engine. Every breath she takes brings us closer to Nirvana. Every beat of her heart tears the world from its hinges. She is the Redeemer. Go ahead. I will not be the first God to be martyred for creation.”

As Bell speaks, a look of horrified comprehension dawns on Walter's face. Olivia notices, and it matches the dread that has been filling her ever since the moment in the lab when she realized the purpose behind her activation. Her hand moves to her service weapon.

“I don't believe that,” Peter is saying. “You started this, you have to know some way to stop it – some other way.”

Olivia meets Walter's eyes silently as Peter continues to argue. She can see the pain there – a father's torment, but this time she knows it's directed at her and not Peter. She swallows and gives him a small nod. Suddenly she remembers the Observer's words once more, and it all makes sense. She unholsters her weapon and cocks it, a gesture so familiar that Peter doesn't even notice. There's so much she wants to say to Peter, so much life she had wanted to live with him. But there is no other option. “I'm sorry, Peter,” she tells him, and pulls the trigger into her own mouth.

~~~~~~

Four

The headwind on the way out to sea blows harder than expected, and so it takes longer for Peter and Olivia to get to Bell's Ark than they had planned. Then, when they materialize in the overlapping space between the worlds, Peter tumbles off the boat into the water. He's fine, of course, though it's awkward to try to swim with only one functioning arm. With some difficulty, Olivia is able to help him climb aboard. Ten minutes after the two of them jumped out of the helicopter, they finally head belowdeck to find Walter and Bell.

On the way, Olivia begins to notice that she's feeling very warm. She tries to ignore it, but then she starts to feel an increased pressure in her head that quickly turns into a migraine. She stumbles as they go past another row of cages, and Peter has to steady her. “What's wrong, Olivia? Whoa, you're burning up.” He moves his hand from her arm to her forehead. She notices that his hand feels impossibly cool against her bare skin.

“I – I don't know,” Olivia admits, and she hates how tremulous her voice is. She clears her throat. “Come on, we have to find Walter. I'll be fine.” Her voice is stronger, and she must sound convincing, because they keep going. By the time they hear what sounds like William Bell talking through an open door, Olivia can also hear a roaring in her ears, and it keeps building.

She's aware that Peter is threatening Bell with his borrowed gun, and that Bell doesn't seem at all worried. He's saying something about how it can't be turned off, and Olivia's own body seems to confirm his words. The pain has built to a crescendo that she can no longer ignore, and she cries out and clutches at the wall, slowly sinking to the ground.

She thinks Bell sounds triumphant, almost gleeful. She thinks she can hear Walter and Peter's worried questions to her, above a roar that is now outside the boat as well as in her head. But she can't answer or concentrate on anything except the searing agony that suffuses her entire body. Stop, she wants to beg. Someone, anyone, please stop it. If she had the motor control to be able to reach her gun and turn it on herself, she would. Before everything turns blindingly bright, Olivia remembers the spontaneous combustion that started this chain of events and finds it bitterly fitting that it should all end in fire.

The worlds are destroyed. Bell, his Ark, and the Bishops are incinerated, despite Bell's intricately-plotted failsafe. September finds he cannot continue to observe this possible future because he does not exist in it. The memory of it leaves his mind as soon as the images of it pass away.


End file.
